Vintage Silk Maxi Dress

Vintage silk maxi-dress

La Tour d'Aigues, France

Chateau de Tour d'Aigues

A couple of months ago my friend angie made a quick stop in Aix en Provence while she was traveling through Europe. It's quite nice to have friends visit since they bring a little bit of home to where ever you are. And she sure did end up bringing me back , it was so refreshing!

 We did a lot of sight-seeing, laughing, eating, drinking wine and of course shopping! For those of you who aren't familiar with me I absolutely love fashion! I love the way you express your personality with color, shapes, and fabric. I especially love the way it evolves with the season as we humans do. Fashion is the outermost expression of who you are, or how you want people to portray you.  With fashion you can showcase this on a daily basis.

 For me being up to date with the current fads, trends, or designers isn't the most important thing, it's expressing how you feel and who you are, it's your personal style.

With this being said, Angie and I set out to do some souvenir shopping and stumbled upon this really cool second hand store called Blow up in aix en Provence. You can check out an article with multiple pictures of the store HERE.  (contact info below)

As we walked in I automatically saw this gorgeous, colorful, one of a kind, vintage 70s silk maxi dress, it was calling my name I swear! It was so perfect and I had to try it on. once I slipped into this dress I didn't want to get out. It fit like a glove, I was transported to a care-free era and trust I didn't want to come back. It was PERFECT! You know how when you find a dress and you feel like it was made for you? Yup, that's the feeling I got!
Angie thought so too, so she decided to gift me the dress, how awesome is she?

Checkout the dress and let me know what you think about it!

 

Taking advantage of the scenary; cornfields

Absolutely adore the colors

check out the low plunging back

Vineyards

Don't take life too seriously, be silly, let your hair down and dance in the vineyards

Until next time!

-R





Blow up Vintage Store
Contact info:

26, rue Boulegon
Aix en Provence
  Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blow-Up/185778794809916

Store hours
– Tuesday to Saturday 10:30am to 7:30pm
– Monday 2:30pm to 7pm

Le Marché de Pertuis

Le Marché de Pertuis

Pertuis, France

Peonies at the Pertuis market

It's like a ritual, every friday morning I wake up early brew myself a big cup of coffee, eat a tartine and get myself ready for the weekly market. It starts every friday morning from 8am until about 1pm. 

I came across this market by accident about a year ago when I was running a couple of errands in the center of town and let me telly you, I fell in love. Before then I was a bit hesitant about living in this small city which to me seemed impersonal, cold, and a bit desolate. But once I stumble upon the market my mind was changed!  I enjoyed walking through and seeing the town's people in thier element, kiosk keepers enticing their customers, the colors and scent of fresh produce, the crowded streets with both tourists and locals taking thier time to examine the products before commiting. It's unlike any market I've ever been to in the US, once you've been there atleast 3 times the merchants start to recognize and embrace you as a regular making you feel like you are a part of the community. This was exactly what I needed to help me feel welcome. 

Walk with me through the market on a typical summer morning.

Colorful fouta and table cloths stand

Local pollen and honey in many flavors; lavender, thyme, chestnut, creamy honey etc.

French people love hats,  the Panama is the must have hat of the summer

Local charcuterie; Bull sausage, comté cheese sausage, figue flavored sausage, and donkey sausage

 

 

The french are serious about their sausage

charisma gets the customer to your stand

I love this! Typical panier provençal, you can see many of the locals carrying this around in the market with their morning purchases

hahah he really wanted a picture

dried fruit and nuts

There's always a food truck or stand with someone making paella, yumm!

Fountain in the middle of the city with kiosks surrounding it

Let's do some shopping!

Produce from a nearby town; Carpentras

Fish stand

Second hand clothing

Local Produce

 

 

local handmade products

Spatulas, cutting boards, and bowls made from the wood of an olive tree

Sunny market day

The crowded streets of Pertuis

Of course we can't forget the local favorite olives different types many flavors

I hope you enjoyed our day at the market, you get to see what a typical Friday morning looks like for me.

Until next time!

-R

Globetrotter Travel Tips Feature

I have some really Exciting news!

I was contacted by my good friend Casey with an incredible opportunity to be featured on his new site called Globetrotter Travel Tips! Casey and I met a few years ago on our wonderful adventure as English teachers in South Korea. He touches a bit more on how we met on his blog post, I'll let you get read up on it there. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you!

He and I share a passion for traveling; learning about different cultures and discovering how others live. Casey wanted to create a community and an open source for those who are avid travelers, are preparing for their first big trip, or those who are simply interested in exploring but are afraid to take the plunge.

There are an unlimited amout of resources offered to the GTT readers such as information about specific regions in the world to visit and discount codes for travel sites.


It's time to awaken the wanderlust within you, take risks, have adventures, open your mind, but most of all live a full life! Don't miss out on the great information and remember to subscribe!

Check it out! ------> Globetrotter Travel Tips

White weekend

Checking out the apple orchids that are almost ready to be harvested. Had a taste and man were they good! My outfit for the Baptism White dress from Naf Naf a french clothing store. Check out the site! http://www.nafnaf.com/fr/


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So this weekend we had a couple of events scheduled, the first one was a civil baptism and the second was a 20th Birthday party. Here are some pictures of What I wore... Pretty much white the whole day. Luckily I didn't get myself dirty.

The civil baptism a very odd concept for me. It is a way of officially and legally naming the god parents. Except to my knowledge it was meant to be a religious affaire... well the times have changed. The new thing to do in France for those who don't have a religion or believe in God is to do baptise their children through the city Hall. They have the benefits of offically naming the 'marraine' --> God mother and the 'parraine' --> God father, with out the religous attachment. This may sound appealing to some while there are those who prefer the more traditional route. In any case its a good excuse to have a huge lunch and party!

Saw this beautiful creature on a tree.

Ladybug love.

On our way to the baptism we passed by Pont St. Esprit a cute calm village in the Gare department in France. I had to stop for a quick picture of the bridge which connects the banks of the Rhone river.






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Later on that evening we headed out to a White Party! It was M's best friend's cousin's 20th birthday and she celebrated it BIG! Turning 20 in France is a big deal kind of like our 21st birthday in the US except its a bit more logical. We celebrate it big for our 21st because it's the age when you can drink alchohol legally and go to the night clubs among other things... but let's face it mostly because of alcohol. In France you celebrate your 20th. It has nothing to do with alcohol since at 18 you can legally drink. Honestly even at a younger age, but let's stay politically correct here. In France they do it big for every decade i.e 20yrs old, 30yrs old, 40yrs old etc. This marks points in your life where you're meant to be in a different stage. Maturity, stability..etc. I find that a bit more consistent than being old enough to drink, but that's just my personal opnion.

I find it so interesting to see and compare the cultural differences between the American, Dominican, and French way.
I find it makes me more open-minded.

The 'lavoir' or village wash house. This is pretty much a staple in all small french villages. This was the place where women would go to do laundry and socialize, yes a place many will only read about in the history books. Dress from H&M. Venejan, France

Many years ago these fountaines actually had drinking water disposible for the villagers to take at their disposal. These days you can find some with clean drinking water, but most of all it's used as decoration and a reminder of the past.

Village 'Moulin' or windmill at the top of the hill. Venejan, France

Love the simple romantic lanterns surrounding the swimming pool.

Apero time!

Playing around at the photo booth with the guys.

Well hello there!

The cake!

The biggest bottle of vodka I've ever seen in my life!

Silly me :)


Until next time mes amies!

R

Weekend Escapades! Au Bord de la mer.

Hanging out, getting ready for our picnic. Funny story about our bamboo fort; On our way to the beach M realized that of course there is nowhere we can take cover once the sun starts beating down so we wanted to stop and buy a PARASOL or beach umbrella, only that it was a sunday afternoon in France... EVERYTHING is closed. So we decided to take matters into our own hands and M (or McGyver as I call him sometimes) went out and picked up some bamboo. With the bamboo, his fishing gear (rods & fishing line), and a random blanket we got to work and built this beauty that kept us cover for quite a while. We were very proud of our creativeness, who needs an umbrella when you have nature?! Later on it got windy so M made a wind-shield, i didn't get a pic but it was kick-ass as well.

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Bonjour!

This weekend we spent a lot of time hanging out by the sea it was quite nice and relaxing. In the south of France we aren't only lucky to have gorgeous weather most of the year, but also to be surrounded by the mediterranean sea which can be a treat during the hot summer months.On saturday afternoon we decided to head out and visit Carry le Rouet with M's sister, but instead we took a detour and went to the tiniest beach ever in ensués. Boy was it tiny... There were maybe 50 of us squished up like sardines but well worth it. The water was crisp and clean not extremely over populated as you can find in Cassis and Marseille. It was a really nice day.

We wanted to keep the beach momentum going so M planned to take me to a beach he used to go to often years ago. This beach was a bit different. First of all it was a bit far from where we live about an hour and a half, yet it took us 3 hours to get there... let's just say someone had a hard time with the GPS and the directions in their head. This beach is well know for being a bit secluded, a nice place to camp in and have bbqs, you can literally drive your car up to the beach and chill out the whole day; night, week, month or entire summer. There are Kilometers and Kilometers of sandy beach for everyone so you're not battling it out for a spot to place your towel. The beach is very very shallowand warm so it's quite great for families with young kids. Most of all this beach is known for its kite surfers and kite runners because it's very windy. But who minds a bit of wind on a hot summer day?

Not to mention, this place is not accessable by GPS and the road.. well let's just say you're not bringing you're brand new BMW over there beacuse it might just not make it.

I really enjoyed this place, its unlike any other beach experience that I've had. And as you know I like things that are out of the ordinary. Welcome to Beauduc.

Having fun in the water as the sun was setting. The best lighting of the day.

Some of the landscape as we road through the bumpy dirt roads to get to our final destination.

I absolutely loved this! These are poles that lined up the dirt road and the passerbys stack the rocks as they often do in buddhist traditions. I love this because it reminds me of my life in Korea and my travels all over Asia. It brings me back in time.

There's life in everything you see.

As the sun begins to set slowly.

To infinity.

Typical 'Taurea Camargues' or a heard of Bulls from the Camargue region in France.

This is on our way home. As we were leaving Camargue we saw the beautiful hues in the sky which reminded me to take the time and appreciate life's beauty which is in its simplicity. In nature.

As the sun sets the birds fly home and the flamencos relish in their habitat. La camargue. France.





Thats all for today! Bisous to all. I hope you enjoyed this weekend re-cap.